About ToxicTrailers.com

ToxicTrailers.com was launched after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 when the government spent more than $2 billion on FEMA trailers with high levels of formaldehyde that sickened thousands of people. The FEMA trailer tragedy exposed what is a widespread problem in RVs, mobile homes, modular buildings and even conventional buildings that use pressed wood products. Unfortunately, as we approach the tenth anniversary of Katrina, formaldehyde regulations are not being enforced in the U.S., and people's health is at risk. If you are having burning eyes, congestion, sore throat, coughing, breathing difficulties, frequent sinus infections or rashes, and difficulties concentrating, you may have a formaldehyde problem. For questions or to share your story, write 4becky@cox.net.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Keystone hasn't fixed the problem

In the recent U.S. House Oversight Hearing, Rep. Issa from California said to the four trailer manufacturers that he was sure if a consumer had indicated their product was defective, the trailers manufacturers would fix the problem. The manufacturers agreed by nodding. However, THE FORMALDEHYDE PROBLEM HAS NOT BEEN FIXED! Some trailer manufacturers apparently are still selling trailers high formaldehyde to the public. I don't know of a single person who has written into this site with a travel trailer they have that is high in formaldehyde who has either been able to get their money back or the problem resolved. People are spending tens of thousands of dollars to get trailers that are making them sick. Trailers as old as 2002 and as new as 2008 are testing over .1 ppm.

This is from a family that recently purchased a Keystone travel trailer that recently tested at 0.23 ppm (230 ppb):

My husband and I have been living in a 2008 30' Keystone travel trailer since July 7, 2007. Initially, because of the weather, we were able to keep the windows open most of the time, and we took showers in another facility. Nonetheless, I was getting headaches and was more lethargic than usual. I attributed these symptoms to my low thyroid condition. Within 4 months we were traveling in colder, more humid climates, when my eyes began to get extremely irritated. They were ringed with red spots that became pustules, which would break, then reappear. Soon the itchy irritations traveled onto my forehead, down my face, neck and chest. My throat was also increasingly sore, and I developed a cough. Now I have those same painful, itchy pustules constantly on my ribs, abdomen and lower back. Occasionally, they still develop on my face, shoulders and upper arms. I frequently feel "sickish".

I can certainly connect these symptoms with living in the trailer, which is our home, because when I have visited friends and family, even overnight, the symptoms diminish. When I was gone for 10 days, I was significantly better. When we spent most of our time outdoors for 3 months in Arizona, the symptoms - especially respiratory - were not so bad. 11 months later, we are living and working in Colorado. The spring has been cold and wet and I am miserable. My husband does not appear to be much affected by this situation, but I surely am.

Warning: RVS and mobile homes may be hazardous to your health!!

Imagine that you have just lost your home in a natural disaster, and are now waiting to get a FEMA trailer for temporary housing. The fact is, you and your family might be better off in a tent or living with friends and relatives, even if it is crowded.

After Hurricane Katrina, FEMA purchased about 102,000 travel trailers at a cost of $2.6 billion to house the victims of the nation’s largest natural disaster. It turns out that the vast majority of these trailers have excessive levels of formaldehyde. See the results of testing done by the CDC that were announced Feb. 29, 2008 at the website http://cdc.gov/nceh/ehhe/trailerstudy/ or just Google CDC formaldehyde FEMA study. This website also has links to information for residents and health care practitioners.

From the very beginning people who received FEMA trailers after Katrina reported experiencing problems such as irritated eyes, breathing problems, bloody noses, headaches, nausea, frequent respiratory infections and skin rashes. We know one family that moved from the FEMA trailer into a storage shed on their property because their daughter threw up every time she spent any time in the trailer. Another man sleeping in his driveway next to his trailer said, “My FEMA trailer is killing me!” One couple experienced such heavy chest congestion combined with nose bleeds that they abandoned their FEMA trailer to sleep in their truck.

The CDC testing confirmed three earlier rounds of testing done by Sierra Club in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama in 2006 and 2007 with test kits from Advanced Chemical Sensors. Out of 69 tests, 61 were over 0.1 ppm which represents 88 percent of the trailers tested. The tests used 0.1 ppm as the concentration above which health impacts are expected. However, much lower levels are recommended for long-term exposure. The Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry (ATSDR) Minimal Risk Levels are 0.04 ppm for 1-14 days, 0.03 for 14-364 days and 0.008 ppm for 365 or more days exposure. The lowest of the 69 Sierra Club tests was 0.04. The highest test was 0.39.

As you will see by reading the blogs on this page, the formaldehyde problem is not confined to just RVs and mobile homes purchased by FEMA. Manufacturers state that they didn't do anything differently for RVs and mobile homes sold to FEMA than those sold to the general public. People across the country are reporting formaldehyde problems in not just campers and manufactured housing, but regular homes, offices, churches and schools.

For an in-depth look at this issue including how FEMA and the ATSDR tried to coverup the problem rather than respond to a major public health disaster, see the hearing transcript from the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform at http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1413.